A programmer has often the problem of fast sorting. Which algorithm he/she should take for that type of data. I will show you simply the fastest algorithm but only for sorting integers. I'm talking about the radixsort. But sth like the fastest algorithm doesn't exist for sorting. Because it's always a question of the data type and pattern wich you wan't to sort.
The code is written in python, because nearly every programmer understands it ^^
def radixsort( aList ):
RADIX = 10
maxLength = False
tmp , placement = -1, 1
while not maxLength:
maxLength = True
# declare and initialize buckets
buckets = [list() for _ in range( RADIX )]
# split aList between lists
for i in aList:
tmp = i / placement
buckets[tmp % RADIX].append( i )
if maxLength and tmp > 0:
maxLength = False
# empty lists into aList array
a = 0
for b in range( RADIX ):
buck = buckets[b]
for i in buck:
aList[a] = i
a += 1
# move to next digit
placement *= RADIX